Qibla direction in Kiel

How to face the Qibla in Kiel

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 43.9° towards south: the result is the bearing of 133.9°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Kiel.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Kiel, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of one of the mosques of Kiel is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Kiel to Mecca points to 145.4° (south-east), 11.5° away from the correct 133.9°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 20 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

The value of 133.9° is the direction in which the shortest route from 54.3213° N, 10.1349° E sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Kiel to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,425 km from Kiel as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,115 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 42 min, although most pilgrims from Kiel connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Kiel run 2 hours behind Mecca in winter and 1 hour behind Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Kiel rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Kiel

On 309 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Kiel while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 1 February 2027 it happens at 09:20 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Kiel during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Kiel: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Kiel compared with other cities

Compared with Berlin, 295 km away, the Qibla in Kiel is turned 2.8° further anticlockwise (133.9° against 136.7°), and Mecca is 295 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Lübeck (62 km), prays towards 134.2°, a difference of 0.3°.

Across the 63 cities in Germany on this site, the Qibla ranges from 124.8° in Freiburg im Breisgau to 136.7° in Berlin, a spread of 11.9°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Germany.

Qibla in cities near Kiel

• Lübeck134.2° · 62 km
• Hamburg133.0° · 86 km
• Rostock136.4° · 133 km
• Bremerhaven131.2° · 133 km
• Bremen131.1° · 164 km
• Oldenburg130.4° · 182 km